Book 1 - The Behemoth came to Canterlot

by Equimorto


Waste

"Is everything alright?"
Chrysalis took a moment to reply, silently staring at the floor. "I just... slept poorly," she said. It wasn't even technically a lie.
The pony in front of her nodded, and reassuringly patted her shoulder. "I get it. If you're not feeling up to it today you can take a break and go home, we can manage without you."
Again, Chrysalis was silent. She slowly looked up, until the alicorn standing near the wall on the other end of the room entered her field of vision. "No, it's... fine. I'll just... get something to drink."
The pony looked at her, skeptical. "Are you sure?"
Chrysalis looked at her, and forced out a smile. "Yeah. Don't worry about it. I don't have much to do today, I'll be better tomorrow."
The mare smiled back, a little unsure. "Alright. But don't push yourself." With that, she began to walk away.
Chrysalis watched her leave, then began to walk towards the laboratory. Stellaria joined her as she passed by her side, and the two of them silently made their way through the crystal corridor. Once at the door, Chrysalis stopped, and looked at Stella for instructions. She already knew how things were supposed to go down, but it would have hurt not to double check.
Stellaria looked back towards Chrysalis, clearly not displeased by the lack or initiative on the changeling's part. "I'll be checking on the defence systems, and planning the escape route. Don't come looking for me. I'll be out when I'm done, probably tonight. Just do what you need to, then go back and wait for me. Don't fuck this up." With that she turned, and began to walk away.
Chrysalis swallowed, and waited a few more seconds before finally opening the door to the laboratory. She walked inside, closed it behind herself, and made her way to her assigned desk. All she had to do was log in a few results, sort them out, and run a couple checks and tests to make sure everything was in order. Nothing that would take more than a couple hours. Gloomily she sat down and began to sort through papers, not even trying to put any life to her expression or movement. She figured ponies would buy the lack of sleep excuse.
She was a little startled when she heard a familiar sound, a familiar cadence of hooves clacking against crystal. And yet there was something different to it. She looked up, and almost jerked backwards, but after her initial reaction she quickly realised it was the original Twilight she was staring at in the middle of the room. The colours gave it away, but she also seemed to be a touch taller than Stellaria.
The alicorn was carrying a scale with her, and held a clipboard in her magic. She jotted down a few notes as she made her way to the centre of the lab, then looked around. "Is anyone not too busy at the moment?" she asked.
Almost without thinking, Chrysalis raised a hoof, and cleared her throat.